The Only Exception
by PolarOpposites
Summary: What happens when the one night stand you thought you would never see again returns and turns out to be the half-brother of the boy you're supposedly in love with? Brooke Davis is about to find out.
1. Fearless

She didn't even bother to hide the envy that was obviously washed across her face as she downed another shot of vodka and tried to fixate her eyes away from the dance floor where her supposed best friend and the guy that she had been pining for all year were all over each other.

She waited until the bartender had turned and no one was watching before grabbing an entire bottle of hard liquor and heading out quietly.

xxxxx

As he adjusted his black dress shirt, he groaned inwardly at the thought of having to see Nate and Dan, the banes of his existence. His mother had insisted that he go to Keith's wedding, as Lucas' uncle was the one person who attempted to keep in touch with them and she had to run the café, ot so that was her excuse.

The sun was beginning to set and he knew he had missed the actual wedding, so he parked his beat up truck across the street and walked over to the tent where the reception was being held, hands deep in his pockets.

In the near distance, he saw a girl in a red dress, bottle of liquor in her hand, stumbling with every step she took. Falling over at one point, before slowly getting back up and continuing to stumble towards the parking light.

Lucas wasn't the good samaritan type, frankly he didn't really give a shit. But this chick was drunk out of her mind and would definitely get killed if she tried to drive a car.

He didn't want that on his conscience.

xxxxx

"You are way too drunk to drive this thing," she heard a voice that sounded a lot like Nathan's and turned hopefully with a smile, only to be met with a brooding scowl she had never seen before. "Who the hell are you?" she slurred incoherently.

"Let's call me a fairy godmother, who is saving you from getting into this car and getting yourself or some innocent person killed." He said, his expression deadpanned.

As Brooke tilted her head to the side and observed him, even in her drunken haze she could see that he was very attractive, deep blue eyes and scruffy blond hair and all, yet he didn't seem as put together Nathan and the majority of guys she knew.

"Well, too bad," she said before she shuffled through her purse, searching for keys.

"Shit!" she exclaimed, pounding the hood of the car clumsily. "Peyton has my keys…"

With that, she grabbed her bottle and decided she didn't want to deal with Peyton right now, she would just walk home. It wasn't that far…

"You aren't in any state to walk, I have my truck, and I can give you a ride." He called after her.

"Well aren't you a gentleman, thanks but no thanks, my mom taught me to never accept rides from strangers." She turned and smiled sincerely, standing a safe distance away from him.

"Well from the looks of that bottle, you obviously listen to everything your moms taught you..." he smirked back at her

She thought for a moment and shrugged. He couldn't be any worse than the guys she did know.

"Lead the way."

xxxxx

"So, you from around here?" she asked, when they settled into his blue pick up truck. "I've never seen you before. Take a right here"

"I'm from out of town." He replied as he came to a halt at the stop sign, and turned to look at her as he spoke. She took out the pins and clips in her hair and shook her brunette locks out, letting them cascade down her back.

"All better," she replied giggling at him as she ran her fingers through her hair. She looked years younger, her hair wild, her bare feet resting on top of the front of the car, she was definitely hot.

"Ooooh, Jules side of the family," she replied, and Lucas didn't bother to correct her.

xxxxx

As she took another sip of her alcohol, she felt herself almost begin to numb, yet something was holding her back. She closed her eyes; she wanted to forget about it, all of it. Nathan, Peyton. She was done. But she couldn't.

As his truck stopped infront of her house, she couldn't help it as the tears started to poor out of her eyes.

"Woah…you're house is fucking hu-" she heard him begin, but as he saw the waterworks he stopped. "Are you okay?"

She wiped them away and shook her head furiously, as they both sat silently for a minute. Then finally, she spoke, and she had no idea what came over her.

"When I get out of your car, I could get shot," she began, but was interrupted by him.

"Is that what you're worried about? Because this is Tree Hill-" she cut him off.

"Just listen. I mean it's not likely, but I could get shot. Or my house could burn down, or my best friend could just steal the guy I'm basically in love with," and she glanced over at him, he was clearly confused but she continued.

"Any number of things could happen. Or I could meet my soul mate, or-"

"I don't understand what you're getting at it…" he exclaimed, turning towards her a bit more.

"The point is that anything could happen, isn't that amazing if you think about it? That you never know exactly what's going to happen next? It's crazy…"

xxxxx

She smiled at him, a glimmer in her eyes and he wanted to kiss her. He really wanted to just devour those lips.

"I guess what I'm saying is that I want to live in the present. To indulge myself in _the now_. And not worry about the past, or what is to come." She looked him straight in the eye, her own eyes searching for his approval.

And then she grabbed a hold of his face and kissed him, feasting on his lips, and he responded with his tongue. Wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closer to him. He could taste the alcohol on her breathe and smell the faint scene of lavender. After a minute or two, they pulled apart to breathe, and she began unzipping the back of her dress, he stopped her.

"Wait a second, don't take this the wrong way, I'm a guy and you're hot beyond words, but you're drunk and we don't even know each other's names. And I need to go to the wedding." He said, knowing he would probably regret this later.

She shrugged, clearly disappointed.

"Okay."

She then continued unzipping her dress, revealing her lacey strapless bra that left little to the imagination, and Lucas almost passed out.

"Oh I'm so sorry, it just slipped," she feigned shock, zipping her dress up as fast as she had unzipped it.

"Anyways, thanks for the ride." She said, and Lucas knew that he would likely never see her again, that she was here and willing.

As she turned and opened the door, about to hop out, he grabbed a hold of her arm and pulled her towards himself, his lips crashing into hers as he began unzipping her dress again.

xxxxx


	2. The Weight of it All

**Thank you guys for all the reviews, I really appreciate it!**

**The story is starting off a bit slow, I know. It was originally intended for a three or four part story but now I think I want it to be a full length story.**

xxxxx

"No way!"

"Yes. I couldn't believe it, I mean did you know? I didn't!" Peyton questioned.

"I had no idea! Why did they decide to move to Tree Hill all of a sudden?" Brooke asked, drying herself off and sitting on one of the lounge chairs by the pool.

"It's so twisted! Apparently Deb and his mom became friends a few years back. I guess Deb was just…curious about her, I really don't even know. But they decided to open a café here together." the curly blond explained.

"How's Nathan taking it?" the brunette asked, immediately becoming concerned, even though she knew it wasn't her place.

"He hates him. His attitude is really appalling Brooke. We… actually broke it off two weeks back because of it. Now he's trying to bully Lucas out of joining the basketball team." Peyton informed her, anger evident in her voice.

"You guys are over? For good?" Brooke asked, she felt guilty that a part of her was secretly very happy about that prospect.

"Yes, for good this time. I thought it was what I wanted but then I met Lucas and I just realized how many things were wrong with our relationship." Peyton explained.

"Wait...what? You broke up with Nathan for his half brother? Peyton! There is no better way to completely destroy a guy's ego." She replied, a little surprised but all the more thankful, knowing that as soon as she got back to Tree Hill she could put that ego back together.

"No! It's not like that, I promise. It's just that Lucas is in two of my classes so I see him a lot and I met him even before I knew he was Nathan's brother and we just connected right away. We have the same taste in music, and I can show him my art and feel like he truly understands it, you know? And I never felt like that with Nathan. Lucas and I are just friends." Peyton reassured.

"For now. You sound like you really like this guy!" she told her friend honestly.

"I do, I know I've only known him for like three weeks, but I have strong feelings for him and that kind of scares me. Which is why I'm being shunned by Nathan and all the people I thought were my best friends forever!" the blond replied sarcastically in a mock valley girl voice.

"I can't believe so much has changed in three months," Brooke said.

"Oh, you won't believe! How's the Malibu private school?" Peyton asked. "And when the hell are you transferring back?"

"Sucky. Which is why I'm coming back on Monday." She responded.

"What? So soon?" her friend inquired, and Brooke couldn't tell if Peyton was excited or disappointed.

"Yeah, I'm renting out an apartment. I've already gotten all of that paperwork out of the way so as of now I am back to being a student at Tree Hill High." Brooke said.

"That's..wow, that's really good!" Peyton replied. "I didn't think you were getting back for another two or three weeks though."

"Well surprise- I am! Do you think you'll be able to pick me up from the airport? Tomorrow at 7 pm?" Brooke asked.

"I actually have plans with Lucas, we're going to a drive-in movie, I'm sorry Brooke." Peyton told her.

"No worries, I'll just call Nate or Theresa or Bevin!" Brooke told her, her tone a tad more cheerful than she felt. "See you Monday!"

As she hung up the phone, she began to think about how much things had changed for her in such a short time. A few days after Keith's wedding, her parents had told her they were getting divorced and she was whisked away to Malibu to live with her grandma while her parents sold their home in Tree Hill and began dividing up the assets. Peyton had been too busy with Nathan to bother to even call more than once a week, and the majority of that time was spent talking about Nathan and their relationship, the last thing Brooke wanted to hear about.

A part of her wondered if going back to Tree Hill was a bad idea, as she sat there debating who to call to pick her up, it dawned on her that there was no one that would come for sure. There was no one she could rely on.

And that thought frightened her more than she wanted to believe.

xxxxx

She finally found the last piece of her luggage, struggling for a few seconds before pulling it onto her cart and strolling out towards the arrivals doors.

She couldn't believe how happy she was to be _home._ Regardless of the fact that she was not going to get the warm welcome she was hoping for or that she was virtually alone.

There was just a comfort that she would never be able to find anywhere else in the world that Tree Hill held.

As her cart pushed through the doors she smiled happily, ready to walk past the large group of people waiting for their loved ones.

And then she saw him.

Long and lean. Smirk on his face, shorts and a Raven's hoodie on.

"Nate?" she questioned, shocked and happy beyond belief to see him.

"Hi B." he replied with a boyish grin.


End file.
